Tutorials
HOW TO TATTOO CURVED LINES
HOW TO TATTOO CURVED LINES
If you take a look at any tattoos out there on the internet or look and the work that your favourite artist produces then you will notice curved lines all over the place. Hopefully you will also see that they are nice and smooth and consistent. Well that doesn’t just happen without effort. It takes practice and patience and that’s the aim of today’s lesson. We’re going to be doing a simple drill to really develop our hand movement and muscle memory. Again, this isn’t going to feel natural straight away but like anything in life when you do it again and again with the intention of improvement then we naturally begin to feel much more comfortable. So lets get everything set up and jump straight into the lesson. Remember to stay calm and relaxed while working through this, there is no pressure or anyone watching over your shoulder and it doesn’t matter if you get it wrong a thousand times before you start to get it right. That’s why were all here and following the course – to improve!
So in this lesson we are we are going to tattoo a short curve. As ever we want to keep the 5 key skills in our minds and explain out loud each step of what we are doing. As with the first two sides of the square we tattooed in lesson 2 here we can either keep the machine at the same angle throughout (image 29 & 30), or we can turn the machine in the direction of the curve (image 31 & 32), which ever is more comfortable for you. However, it is really important to be aware of how the angle of the machine can change when you move and how this can affect where the ink is deposited. As long as you and compensate for this as you tattoo you will be able to tattoo perfect, smooth consistent lines.
Remember, we need to be keeping our hand and machine locked in position and moving our arms as we tattoo. If you move your fingers it will be harder to control the angle of the machine. If you run out of ink before finishing a line we now know how to taper out and taper back in to create clean and consistent lines, if you are still unclear go back to lesson 3. When you are clearing the excess ink away be very careful to stay away from the remaining stencil (image 33). This will become more and more important as you stencils become more detailed, you do not want to be wiping them away! As I am left handed I will always work form left to right, over the areas I have tattooed, this stops my hand from rubbing out the stencil as I go. If you are right handed I suggest that you work form right to left.
And finally, remember, practise makes perfect! These fundamental skills are really important and we are learning them this way, in isolation, so that you can clearly see if you are getting them right, there’s no design to hide behind. If at the end of the lesson you are still not confident, set it up and do it again! Remember, were taking this one lesson at a time and building a solid foundation. Let’s learn things correctly from day one. No more jumping around YouTube from one topic to another. Trust in the system ANGLE OF I have created and you will be shocked in a few weeks at how far you have come.
